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Straight From the “What the F*** Took So Long” Department…

By Mike | May 10, 2008

Don Cherry made his debut on SportsCenter last night, and Buccigross could barely contain himself:

In typical Coaches’ Corner fashion, the Dapper Don made a few salient points, mixed in with some incoherent ramblings about the Penguins and a not-so-subtle dig at the fancy Euro players in Detroit. Apparently, if you take Grapes’ word for it, the reason why the games aren’t selling out is because Detroit fans would rather watch Bob Probert and Joey Kocur than some of the most phenomenally gifted players in the game, like Pavel Datsyuk or Henrik Zetterberg. Good stuff.

During the Finals, he and Barry Melrose will be going toe-to-toe in the ESPN studio. Needless to say, this is pretty much must-see-TV for any self-respecting hockey fan.

By the way, for a slightly more articulate take on the controversy regarding the empty seats at the Joe during Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Thursday night, check out board member Detroit Hockey’s take at his very excellent site, or this slightly less polite take over at Behind the Jersey. A little rough, perhaps, but any time someone wants to rip Mitch “Mr. Hallmark” Albom, it’s a-OK by me.

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What Do We Think Of…

By Mike | May 7, 2008

…the quick demise of the Rangers, and the long summer of second-guessing ahead of us?

Jen C.: Let’s Go Mets! Wait, what? Pedro’s on the DL? Oliver Perez is imploding? The bullpen is leaky? They can’t drive in runs? Is it hockey season yet?

Mike: I’m just glad that most Ranger fans are level-headed and calm, and will discuss the off-season priorities of the Rangers in a rational and realistic manner.

Leedsy: Is the season really over? That would make sense, because I haven’t read a headline about Sean Avery in almost three days.

Rocha: It is written that now is the time for hockey forums to shine. The moment of citing points per game averages, plus/minus ratios and salary cap impact is at hand. Heed my words, I shall crush the skulls of the nonbelievers who dare argue the possibility of signing fewer than three free agent defensemen! Verily, it is three, I say; three! The powerplay quarterback! The big and tough shutdown type! And one more for good measure! The streets will run red with the blood of those who propose an untested rookie take a spot on the first line! In this time of great conflict, these cries will ring out across the land: “North-South!” “Puck moving!” “Crashes the net!” So to the draft, then, summer soldiers, and to unrestricted free agency! Onward then! Onward into battle!

Jen B.: Hey, at least I don’t have to watch that asshole Hollweg anymore. Why couldn’t he lacerate his spleen?

Chris: Demise?! Them’s fightin’ words - wait here while I get my car…

Calvin: I’m really looking forward to the experience of watching realistic analysis go head to head with idealistic fandom. There’s nothing more refreshing than seeing arguments that revolve around my ability to will the Rangers to victory by believing in them because anything can happen in sports. Sure, no team has won the Cup with a league worst offense, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen!

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Not what we hoped for

By Jen C. | May 4, 2008

Well, with an overtime goal, the Rangers season is over.

It’s certainly not how we hoped this series would end. We can go all the way back to Game One and the blown 3-0 lead as to why they lost. There were other bumps along the way (like Hollweg’s penalty in Game 3), but that blown lead really has hurt throughout this series.

Game 4 was a real treat to watch, though, and it’s been a great time watching Jagr play this series.

And if he doesn’t come back next season to the NHL, it sort of seems fitting for him that his NHL career ends in the same place where it started. I hope it’s not lost on Penguins fans. It’s been an amazing time to watch Jagr during his Rangers career. I can’t imagine what it was like to watch him when he was younger in Pittsburgh.

We’re still a little sore and hurt here, but we want to thank all of you people for reading us this season and posting on our message forum. Without all of you, this place would be pretty boring.

We certainly don’t know what the future will hold for the Rangers. We’re already starting the discussion about what we want to see happen this offseason. We’re expecting a pretty lively summer of discussion, so don’t disappear.

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Pregame: Rangers at Penguins (Game 5) — Not our time (Updated)

By Jen C. | May 4, 2008

Jagr’s carrying this team on his back, and his play is finally wearing off on other players. (Julie Jacobson / Associated Press)

The Rangers are back in Pittsburgh today for Game 5 of their Eastern Conference Semifinals match-up with the Penguins. The puck drops at 2 p.m., and the game can be seen exclusively on NBC nationally (check in with MSG after the game). The Penguins lead the series 3-1.

UPDATES: So Tom Renney decided to insert Lauri Korpikoski into the line-up (read here too), but it’s not Hollweg sitting. It’s Orr. Yes, I’m scratching my head too. Strudwick plays again in place of Backman again.

I drove a lot on Saturday since I had to go to Connecticut, so that meant a lot of radio time. And then I heard this song. I’m not even a 3 Doors Down fan, but it seemed fitting.

Cause it’s not my time I’m not going
There’s a fear in me but it’s not showing
This could be the end of me
And everything I know
But it’s not my time I’m not going
There’s a will in me and now I know that
This could be the end of me
And everything I know
Oh but I won’t go
I won’t go

Yeah, that’s me being the rallying cry again. One inspirational win like Thursday night can do that to a fan. If the Rangers played like they did then the entire series, we may not be talking about them with their backs against the wall.

It’s not an easy hill to climb, especially since the Rangers have only won one game in Pittsburgh this season. But if the Rangers can go into Pittsburgh this afternoon and pull out a win, things could be different. The series would be headed back to Madison Square Garden, and all bets could be off.

So what do the Rangers need to do to stay alive and get back to Madison Square Garden?

They need to put together another performance like they did Thursday night. They need strong forechecking and put plenty of pressure on Fleury. They need to make the power play look somewhat passable. They need to put pressure on Crosby, Malkin and Hossa and try to get under their skins again.

Most importantly, Lundqvist and Jagr need to lead the way again.

I’m still skeptical that they can come back from a 3-0 deficit, but look at the Sharks-Stars series. Win today and I’ll be less skeptical.

Tonight’s anticipated line-up
I expect to see the same line-up tonight as we did on Thursday night, including Ryan Hollweg. The Rangers staff moved the equipment of the Hartford players who could have been inserted in the line-up.

I know that’s going to make some people unhappy. I don’t blame you guys. I’m not happy about it either, and this coming from someone who has supported Hollweg over the years. But it’s risky to insert young players with virtually no NHL experience into the line-up. As much as I don’t like the decision, I understand it.

While he won’t play the rest of the season, Sean Avery moved out of intensive care on Saturday. He’s still in the hospital, but obviously improving.

Pregame Poll

Game 4: Penguins 0 at Rangers 3
The Rangers hopped on Jagr’s back for Game 4, and his team responded with a 3-0 win. Jagr had two goals (including the empty-netter). Dubinsky had the other. Lundqvist made 29 saves in his second career playoff shutout. He also faced his second playoff penalty shot this year (the first against Madden in the first round), and stopped Malkin. There was some nastiness at the end of the game when Malkin tripped up Paul Mara. Mara .

Game 3: Penguins 5 at Rangers 3
The Rangers lost Game 3 5-3 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. The Rangers were down fairly quickly in the game, but battled back to tie it at three. Callahan, Straka and Jagr had the goals. But then Ryan Hollweg took a very bad boarding penalty, putting the Penguins on the power play. The penalty killers couldn’t get a whistle or clear and were too tired and helpless to watch as Malkin (yet again) scored. Lundqvist only faced 17 shots. I know some of the shots were unstoppable, but that’s insane. How crazy did Jagr play, though? He was named third star even in the loss.

Game 2: Rangers 0 at Penguins 2
The Rangers lost Game 2 2-0. The Rangers held the Penguins to one goal until the empty netter late in the game. The Rangers had six power plays — more than the Penguins — yet could not convert on any of them. Jordan Staal, Marc’s brother, scored for the Penguins on the power play.

Game 1: Rangers 4 at Penguins 5
The Rangers lost Game 1 5-4 on a late power play goal from Malkin. The Rangers staked an early 3-0 lead on goals from Straka, Drury and Avery. But they blew the lead and were down 4-3 when Gomez tied the game.

Shenanigans!

By Mike | May 3, 2008

When in the course of hockey events, it becomes necessary for one site to call utter Shenanigans on another, and to assume among the powers of fandom, the rightful and boastful place to which the trouncing of the Debbies entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind, or at least whatever Devil fans call themselves these days, requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the calling of said Shenanigans.

We hold this truth to be self-evident, that not all hockey clubs are created equal, that the Rangers were vastly superior in every way to the Devils this season, and that to demonstrate this superiority, friendly wagers are instituted among fans, providing entertainment from the consent of the wagered, –That whenever one party becomes negligent of the wager, it is the Right of the other to call Bullshit. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Shenanigans should not be called for light and transient causes. But when a long delay of lame excuses, carried over deep into the round following that which was the subject of the wager, evinces a design to completely disregard said wager, it is the right, the duty, of the aggrieved party to show the other how it is done. The history of the present Devil bloggers, 2 Man Advantage, is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the goal of weaseling out of the bet. To prove this, let haikus be submitted to the noble members of Rangerland.

Jaromir Jagr,
even with that weird chin hair,
is still quite awesome.

Writing must be tough
with my hand up in your face;
refs won’t save you here.

Talent is rare, Lou:
you often need it to win.
You should have kept some.

I always believed
mass transit would help them sell.
I stand corrected.

Devs’ season over:
Fatso to play golf all spring.
2MA failed us.

Credit: Chris for the intro idea, and Chris and Jason for their haiku contributions.

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Yeah yeah, we know, still down 3-1, long way to go, yada yada yada…

By Mike | May 2, 2008

…but THAT was fucking AWESOME.

Lundqvist out of his mind, Jagr with 40 minutes of demonically possessed play, some great penalty killing, and meltdowns from the Kid and Malkin.

Some quick thoughts:

- Whatever the hell has gotten into JJ this last month and a half…more, please. (If you haven’t read Larry Brooks’ column from earlier today, you must.) I thought he was a little out of it for the first 10-15 minutes or so, but after that…I tell ya, if that first goal does turn to be his last (besides the empty-netter) at MSG, then it was perfect. Trademark Jagr - bull rush from the faceoff circle in, through traffic, unstoppable wrister to the far post.

EDIT: OK, so upon further review, it was the near post. Whatever.

- Sweet holy Jesus, those corned beef sandwiches from the deli under the 330s are good. $10.95 for the sandwich, some tangy and sweet cole slaw, and a bag of some pretty damn tasty chips. Why did I wait all season to try one?

- Big props to Prucha tonight. Definitely the kind of game that endeared him to Ranger fans in his first two seasons. Minus the whole goal-scoring thing, of course. He was really aggressive on the forecheck, mixed it up in the zone, and drew a penalty or two with his hustle.

- The win softened my anger a little, but yeah, as our esteemed admin pointed out below…inexcusable that #44 was in the lineup tonight.

- Nice to see a few of the breaks go the Rangers’ way this time. Take that miss by Jordan Staal, for example, which utterly defied the laws of physics. This is the same kid who, in Game 2, had the strength and dexterity to take a rebound in the middle of crease traffic, switch from his backhand to forehand, and pop the water bottle from about two and a half feet out. Tonight, somehow, with a wide open net right in front of him, he shanked a shot wide to Henrik’s left from the opposite side of the crease, from the same two and a half feet out. The Rangers will definitely be needing a few more of those if they expect to advance.

- Once the season ends, there will be many theories about this team’s biggest needs this offseason. In my view, what has been made glaringly obvious throughout this series is how all of the Ranger defensemen, as Leedsy once said, handle the puck like it’s a hand grenade. Weak clearing attempts that get stopped before they hit the blue line, feeble attempts to come out from behind the Ranger goal on their backhands, only to get snuffed out by an aggressive forechecker, bad turnovers in the neutral zone…it’s painful to watch. It’s one area that will need serious attention this summer.

- Also pretty sweet to see the Kid get rattled a little tonight. It seems hard to believe, but I think the booing from the Garden crowd really got on his nerves. He definitely didn’t seem to be able to get as much room and set up the kinds of chances he did in the first two games. Tell you what, though. If he cuts out the diving and the whining, sharpens his elbows a little more, and shows that he isn’t afraid to muck it up a little, like he did tonight, he’ll gain back the respect of a lot of fans outside the Pittsburgh area. Myself included.

Anyway. Still a long way to go, still very long odds, and it would still be a major disappointment to go out in a short series in the second round. But tonight was really a fun game, especially at the Garden. If for no other reason than we had one last chance to see Jagr do his thing.

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You lost me, Tom

By Rocha | May 1, 2008

I shut my television off 5 minutes into the first period of a possible elimination game after seeing good ‘ole #44 out there after he took one of the most egregious and disastrous penalties in Rangers playoff history on Tuesday night.

It’s bad enough that Ryan Hollweg barely even possesses the hockey skills of an ECHL player and never really deserved to be on this roster for three seasons in the first place.

It’s bad enough that he has already proven himself to be untrustworthy long before Tuesday night but got the nod anyway.

But to put him out there tonight after he sabotaged my team’s comeback in game three is arrogance and disrespect at worst and sticking behind a significantly flawed player with very little upside too long at best.

Tom Renney’s mellow, friendly personality is both his biggest strength and his greatest flaw. Apparently these are not professional sports we’re watching but a development league for special children, or why else would Tom Renney think it was okay to give the most marginal player on the team yet another pardon for yet another purely selfish mistake? I don’t understand Renney’s sense of discipline and I never will. Marek Malik is banished to the seats for months on end for not shaking the coach’s hand, but someone who singlehandedly aborted the Rangers comeback during the 3rd period of a crucial third game of a series is not even remotely disciplined? What is this, a joke? Again, Hollweg’s penalty was one of the worst in my 30-ish years of watching New York Rangers hockey. I can understand if Renney doesn’t want to single Ryan out, or admonish him publically, but to put him in the roster again? The very next game? I’m flabbergasted. I can’t possibly defend Renney any longer on anything. My patience is spent and my trust is lost.

Let me tell you something, if someone who was poor with the media like Bryan Trottier was, did the same things Renney has been doing lately, the press and fans would be all over him. If someone who is perceived as arrogant with the media, like Glen Sather is/was, did the same things Renney has been doing lately, the press and fans would be all over him. But Tom Renney’s nice guy persona gives him a teflon coating much the same way it did for Joe Torre. Oh, except for one minor distinction — Joe Torre was the boss behind a dozen playoff appearances in a row with four championships, while the biggest plus in Tom Renney’s column is he’s a better coach than those paragons of NHL coaching excellence, Bryan Trottier and Ron Low.

I still turned the recorder on after shutting the game off in case there’s something noteworthy to see, maybe Jagr and Shanahan get a nice send off, something like that. If they simply win or lose the game I won’t be watching. I’m really kind of offended by this. I mean, I could see if this player was Jagr, or Drury, or even Avery, someone whom you’d overlook egregious, selfish mistakes with because they could have a sizable positive impact on a game otherwise. But Ryan Hollweg? The guy who falls down on 50% of his shot attempts? The guy who’s so befuddled and indecisive on the ice that opposing players steal the puck off his stick seemingly at will? It feels like an April Fools joke four weeks late. He has always been Tom Renney’s pet project and at this point I’m offended I have to see him in my team’s lineup again after what he did the other night.

This situation is such an obvious disaster that Hollweg wasn’t even contrite for his mistake the other night! “That’s my game,” he said. Really? Your game is sabotaging your own team’s comebacks with inexcusably stupid penalties you ECHL reject?! This is a real good guy to go to the wall for, Tom. Good choice. He’s such a bright, self-aware individual, that Hollweg.

Again, imagine if Mike Keenan did this? “Oh,” they’d all say, “that’s typical Keenan alright. So full of himself.” Or Ken Hitchcock. Or Glen Sather. Pat Quinn. This is the move typical of a coach or manager who has a reputation for being stubborn and arrogant. For being so defensive and in love with their own mind that they’d ignore all common sense to try and prove a point that has long been past worth proving. Does anyone think of Renney as being stubborn and arrogant? I wouldn’t, either, but explain this Hollweg situation for me then. Explain to me why the guy who doused my team’s comeback Tuesday night and is frankly one of the poorest players to ever don a Rangers sweater is allowed to sabotage my team without reprisal?

Topics: Rangers | No Comments »

Pregame: Rangers vs. Penguins (Game 4) — The captain’s last stand? (UPDATED)

By Jen C. | May 1, 2008

Tonight could be Jagr’s last night in a Rangers uniform. He’ll be missed if he does leave. (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

The Rangers continue their Eastern Conference Semi-finals match-up against the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight at MSG. The puck drops at 7 p.m., and the game can be seen exclusively on Versus nationally. The Penguins lead the series 3-0.

UPDATES: Get your line-up changes here. And here too (I have to put a link to anyone who quotes the Foo Fighters. Nice job, Zip!) Korpikoski is in. He’ll play in place of Blair Betts, who is going to need surgery, much like Paul Mara. Drury probably will play (hopefully he’s just a little stiff). No word on who would take Avery’s place, so it could be Hollweg, Orr or Prucha. I suspect there would be riots if Hollweg played. Strudwick could also play in place of Backman.

It also seems to be “Get Sentimental about Jagr” Day. I’m just as much of a victim. Larry Brooks has an article on The Captain in the New York Post. Sam Weinman has a post about Jags on his blog.

I was going to write mainly today how Jagr was playing like a beast and was by himself trying to will his team to win.

And then Sean Avery landed in the hospital.

On Wednesday, news broke that Avery had a lacerated spleen, was in the hospital and would be out the remainder of the season. Initial reports from the New York Daily News said he went into cardiac arrest and was unconscious, but those reports were unfounded.

The crazy thing to me is that Avery apparently suffered the injury early in the game. That means he played at least two periods with a lacerated spleen. Say what you want about Avery, but that’s some iron balls to play through that pain. And it shows a lot about his desire to win.

Thankfully, Avery will be O.K. He’s out the rest of the season (which could end tonight), but the more important thing now is his health. And he’ll be fine and back to harassing goaltenders next season (hopefully not Lundqvist).

But Avery’s not the only guy hurt. Blair Betts took a puck to the cheek during Tuesday’s game, and may have a fractured cheek. Drury has a torso injury. Drury may play, but Betts may not.

And tonight could be the last night as a Ranger for a few players (Shanahan, Straka, Mara, Rozsival), but none are as significant as Jagr.

The Rangers Captain has been the bridge between the old team and the new one, the pre-lockout way and the post-lockout way of things, and he has been a pleasure to watch over those seasons. While there were times he seemed to dog it and be lazy, there were many times — most of them at important moments — he played like the elite player we knew he could be.

The problem today, though, is that he can’t do it alone like he could in 2005-06. He’s a little older, slower and weaker than he was. He’s a different player. He’s not dominant, but he still can have epic moments (just look at this series). So it wouldn’t be surprising for him to move on to Russia. It would be sad to me, though, because I think this team still needs him if the right deal can be worked out.

Hopefully tonight the fans give him his due on what could be his last game on Garden ice as a Ranger.

Tonight’s anticipated line-up
Nothing is for sure tonight, but with three players at least hurting, several of the called-up players could see ice time tonight. Lauri Korpikoski, Greg Moore, and P.A. Parenteau practiced on Wednesday (read here).

Pregame Poll

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Straight From the “What the F*** Took So Long” Department…

What Do We Think Of…

Not what we hoped for

Pregame: Rangers at Penguins (Game 5) — Not our time (Updated)

Shenanigans!

Yeah yeah, we know, still down 3-1, long way to go, yada yada yada…

You lost me, Tom

Pregame: Rangers vs. Penguins (Game 4) — The captain’s last stand? (UPDATED)